Forever (Always & Forever 2)

Kennedy took her seat at one of the booths lining the inside walls of the restaurant. All the other tables and chairs had been removed to allow for the large number of guests invited to mingle.

“You look tired, Nonnie. You should go home.”

“I’ve decided to stay with you two tonight. It’s too far a drive to Stillwater only to drive back here early in the morning and fly home,” she explained, causing Landon to lift his gaze to Robert. Of course, she was always welcome to stay wherever she wanted of Robert’s, but the slowly built plan of showing Landon exactly how proud he was of him for such a job well done this evening crashed and burned in a fiery blaze inside his head. Based on Landon’s pained look, he’d had the same ideas.

After the briefest pause, Landon cleared his throat and nodded to Kennedy. “Probably the best idea.”

Kennedy only chuckled, clearly understanding the meaning behind their long stare. “You two go finish saying your goodbyes to your guests. Send a waiter with a glass of champagne.”

In that, she was right. Robert searched for a waiter, making eye contact, and nodded toward Kennedy then extended his hand to slip his arm around Landon as they started toward the last few guests still remaining in the main dining area even though the party had ended an hour ago.

“We did it and I didn’t embarrass you,” Landon whispered, giving Robert a gentle, relieved smile.

“I told you that you wouldn’t. Most people prefer real people, and you pull off real really well,” he teased and tightened the hold around his husband’s waist.

“Watching you tonight, you were meant to run a restaurant. You kept everything going smoothly like you’d been doing it your whole life.” The words were sweet and did their job to ease Robert’s hidden insecurities.

“Thank you. I admit, I love it, but I’m exhausted.” That had Landon looking over at him as if he’d never seen Robert before. He chuckled, grinning a silly grin.

“What is that you say? Tired? Robert Adams is tired?”

“I know, right? It’s new for me too. All I want to do is go home and sleep, and I have to be here by six in the morning to begin prep.” They had made it to the small group standing in the entryway. Autumn and Cam were there with three other couples, all friends and prominent local figures in the area. “We wanted to thank you all for coming tonight.”

“We’re so pleased to see what you’ve done with the place,” Kelly, a local news anchor said. “I’ll be back tomorrow for the grand opening with a news crew in tow. This is exciting for downtown Minneapolis. I’m not supposed to tell you, so you’ll all have to stay quiet for me, but we had our food critic here tonight, and he was very pleased with the samples. He’s a hard nut and made a comment that he hadn’t had vegan taste so good.”

Autumn beamed, and Robert nodded. “Thank you for sharing. Those particular items have been years in the making,” Robert explained, his heart in his hand with appreciation. “Tomorrow, I believe our noon lunch reservations are full. Outside of the twelve to one timeframe, you have access to the whole place. We’re adding a second story, but that work’s being done overnight not to bother the guests.” Robert racked his brain for any other talking points he should share, worried the construction vehicles parked out front might keep people from venturing in if they didn’t understand their purpose. They had managed to complete the outside of the building, limiting the construction to the interior.

“He’s worked hard. You should see the wine cellar. It’s spectacular. He followed my father’s lead, stocking with the rarest varieties available. Good thing I get a family discount,” Autumn teased, reminding Robert not to get too serious.

She got the desired result as the group laughed then said their goodbyes with promises of returning soon. Even Autumn and Cam made their leave, waving goodbye to Kennedy and hugging them both. They were left alone in the foyer. The tension Robert had tried to hide all evening drained away as Landon locked the front doors behind them.

“What do we have to do now?” Landon asked, shrugging off his suitcoat.

“The kitchen closed down an hour ago. Pacino has that under control. Sebie’s closing the front end for me. There’re no receipts to total, so closing tonight won’t be difficult. I should stay until everyone’s done,” Robert said, watching Landon roll each shirt sleeve up.

“Let me do that. You take Kennedy home,” Landon offered, nodding Kennedy’s way.

His grandmother waited patiently for them, and by patiently, that meant her head was resting on the back of the seat and her eyes were closed. Her age and the care she needed had Robert agreeing he should see her home.